Craigslist Deals! Sweet!

Today was pretty exciting for good deals! We can now ride our bikes together as a family because I found a bike trailer for the boys! Isaac has had a bike, then he found one on Craigslist for me a few weeks ago for $45 and then today I got this trailer for $45 - which is doubles as a side by side double stroller which will come in handy. It's similar to the one here, but in yellow.

She also threw in an extra booster seat to use for meal times which will be great, two red plastic toddler chairs - which match the one that I bought this past weekend at a yard sale for $2 so I now have three matching ones I can use for the boys and for my niece EJ when she comes over! I was so excited!

And then as I was getting ready to leave she asked if I happened to need a loveseat? They had just purchased a larger couch from CL and didn't have room for the loveseat. As it so happened, we have been looking for a loveseat to put in our basement media room. (Funny side note, their new couch was actually one I had emailed Isaac about as a potential for us.) I called Isaac and he came right over on his lunch break. It was perfect! And they even delivered it this evening because we couldn't fit it in our minivan! Wow!! I love it when the Lord showers us with such tangible blessings - and the way he so creatively answers a prayer even down to matching toddler chairs - AND a FREE loveseat!

Thank you Lord for your many blessings!

Happy Father's Day

Sunday June 19, 2011

Enjoyed a good church service this morning for Father's Day. Then this evening we had a BBQ at our house with my parents and sister Melissa's family. The boys had fun running around in the backyard and playing with their cousin EJ. I love spending time with family. The boys showed off new words and Levi showed off some of his ABC and counting skills. :)  Good Day...

My hubby with our boys playing in the new toybox.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ZACKY!!

The cheezy smile

Recent Photos of Levi & Wyatt

Me & My Daddy when I was little.
Happy Father's Day Dad!

Petting Zoo

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Before the petting zoo photos, here are a couple pictures from this morning. Levi wanted to try on my glasses. His shirt says it all. :)

 
 And the boys were watching the Sesame Street Learn the Alphabet while eating gummy snacks. Levi is holding Cookie Monster and Wyatt is holding "Melmo" (Elmo).

The Petting Zoo
One of the local farm and supply stores - Del's - had a customer appreciation day and had a small but fun free petting zoo. A couple ponies, a pen full of goats and a bunny.  The boys had fun petting the horsies who Levi was mooing at. And then he was "baaing" at the goats. Oh well, at least he was close. :) Wyatt thought the goats were funny when they were nibbling on his fingers. He was laughing cuz it tickled. 

We met my sister Melissa, her husband Tim & daughter EJ there.  It was pouring down rain but we were dry under the covered area. Levi took off running as usual. Isaac caught his escape and me running after him while holding Wyatt. The boys were both laughing and thought it was fun. They were selling $1 raffle tickets for two of the goats. We bought two tickets. We'll see if we win a pet goat. :)  Here are some photos -

Hi Goat

Wyatt getting up close to the goat.

Releasing Levi into the goat pen! Beware Goats!!!

See Levi Run.

See the Goats Run From Levi.

See this Goat Get Dizzy from Running Away from my son.

Pretty sure they are thinking
"What the bleet is he doing in here?!"

"Let Us Out, Please!"

Pony

Another Pony.

The Boy's First Circus Experience

After waiting and the boys wiggling,
the circus finally starts. The tigers got their attention!!!

Friday June 17, 2011 

We decided we would try to take the boys to the local Shriner's Circus today at the highschools football field. It was a lot of fun. The boys were pretty wiggly but once the tigers came out, they were captivated. The loved the "Raerrs (Roars)" as they call them.  They thought the elephant was cool too. Once they are a littler older, I think an elephant and pony rides will be a must! :)

 

 

(Still photos of the bears I spliced together.)

The boys loved the bear. Levi laughed when he was pushing the boy in the stroller. I thought the rocking horse act was pretty adorable!!


We ended up having to leave at intermission because the boys were done, but not before we walked around and saw the elephants up close and Levi & even Wyatt made the elephant noise. Pretty cute! :) And we saw the ponies and bears a little closer as well. In the next couple years, I think the boys will have fun on an elephant &/or pony ride! :)

All in all, a pretty fun afternoon!!! :)

Favorite Childhood Summer Vacation Memories

These are some of my responses to a couple different
discussions in Crowdtap about favorite summer memories - 

Plus some more memories from summer's past.
I had a fun time thinking about the  good old days! :)

 

What are some of your favorite summer memories?

One of my favorite summer memories is July 4th, 2002. My husband proposed to me on the beach. I was working at the conference center that summer at the beach and he came to visit me for the day. I had noticed he was acting strangely and wanting me to hurry because he wanted to take a hike. Guess he didn't want to get caught in the rain as it often does at the Oregon Coast!

He had hiked down ahead of time and set up a picnic behind a rock and had written in the sand "Will You Marry Me?" I took the stick & quickly wrote "YES!" Our best friends were hiding and videoing the entire thing and taking photos. I'm still glad I said yes. :) It is to this day one of the most perfect days of my life (second only to my wedding day & birth of my two boys). :)

Another one of my favorite memories is the summer of 1993 (I was 12). My parents let my sister and I pick out kittens from my aunt's cat's litter. This was Snowball. My sister & I spent all that summer playing and loving on those sweet kitties. Our dad built a tee-pee out of wooden poles and tarp. We built a box filled with grass for the cats to sleep in - and would bring them inside and dress them up in doll's clothes. Special summer... Unfortunately, little Snowball got run over by the Schwann's Man the first day of school my seventh grade year. I was devastated. But I am thankful my parents let me bring his brother Misha inside to become an indoor cat. We would dress him up in doll's clothes and hats. He put up with so much. :)  Good memories, even if they are a little bittersweet. Took me a while to not hate Schwann's too. I'm over that now. :) 

Me & Snowball - I was 12

Me & Misha (Snowball's brother). Misha was my baby for 14 years.

 

I was also involved in 4-H and would do model my clothing I'd made for the Style Review. Here is my first outfit I made when I was 8 or 9.

 

Me & My Daddy :)

End of School Year Play Day at School - I was in 1st Grade. 
I loved the races because I could run fast!!!

Jumprope

Leapfrog

 

 A Freak Snowstorm in May of 1985. i built a green snowman 

because my dad had recently mowed the lawn. :)

 

 

What do you miss the most about summer vacations? What were some of your favorite summer vacation memories?

My first memories of a summer vacation are when I was around 5 I believe. We went to Ocean Shores, Washington. I remember seeing the ocean for the first time and how cold the water was. I played in the sand. I got a little grey stuffed animal and still have it somewhere in storage at my parents house. My older sisters drove mopeds on the beach and took horseback rides. My younger sister and I built sand castles and fed the seagulls.

Me & My Sister Miranda

Miranda, Mom & Me

 

One summer vacation we went to Canada for a week or more. We went to Old MacDonald's Farm in Kelowna B.C. and also to The Flintstones park - which sadly is now closed. It was like Disneyland for me. Wonderful memories. I don't remember if it was at this park or one we went to when were on this same trip, but there was a carpeted rolling slide. It was my favorite. My mom got a photo of us on that of all us girls going down - we were all grinning and squealing. :) I also remember eating "fish & chips" for the first time. I thought it was funny that fries were called chips. :)

At Old Macdonald's Farm riding a pony

Me & Miranda

I love this photo of 4 of us girls - a carpet rolling slide.

Miranda & I

The Flintstone Park 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstones

 

It may sound funny, but I miss having green feet. As a kid, I would spend most of the summer barefoot and my feet would literally be stained green from running around in our big yard without shoes on. It reminds me of the carefree feeling I felt as a child - no worries, no responsibilities, no job. :) I am thankful that I got to be a kid. 


My mom made sure that my younger sister and I were safe but she gave us the freedom to roam around outside on our property. We lived in the country and back then we didn't have the worries about neighbor kids picking on us, etc. I think nowadays kids are so busy with sports and video games some of them have forgotten what it is to use their imagination and created their own good clean fun. I want my boys to have the same kind of wholesome upbringing that me & my sisters had. :) 

My sister Miranda was practicing photography. Me in our front yard.

I loved that old Jeep. :)

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http://www.alacca.org/

One of my favorite summer memories from growing up is going to bible camp ALACCA every summer. I would typically get homesick, but my mom & sisters would always send me mail and write funny messages on the outside of the envelope because the camp director always read them out loud in front of everyone when he'd pass out the mail at evening chapel. :) 

My older sisters went every summer when I was younger, so I wanted to make sure and go when I was old enough. There was tubing in the river, archery, lots of games - and lots of cute guys. :) I served as a camp counselor for a summer when I was in college. Made life long friends at camp. Hope my boys will want to go when they are old enough!

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At our house growing up, we had a strawberry patch on the side hill where we would pick for hours and my sisters and I would see who could pick the biggest strawberry! Filling our bowl was slow going as we would usually eat as many as we would pick. There is nothing quite like a "home-grown", sun sweetened strawberry. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about it!!! :) My mom would make them into jam. But during the summer we would typically just eat them fresh, or with strawberry shortcake, or my favorite - for breakfast on top of a waffle covered in vanilla ice cream! Yummy!!!

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I also remember a few mini vacations to Spokane WA. My parents took us to the carousel. I was excited when I was big enough to reach the plastic rings as we went around. We also went to Manito Park which was beautiful!!!

 

I remember visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins in Wenatchee and Cashmere Washington. We would visit Levenworth because it was close as well. Here is me and my sisters from one of those trips.

We used to go up to the mountains near Elk City, Idaho to pick huckleberries every summer too. I didn't end up with very many berries in my bucket because I ate most of them. :)

My mom & dad

George & Vern aka Megan & Miranda :)